


Quiet and Peaceful

by HM (HyperMint)



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Inspired by Music, M/M, Magnificent Seven AU: ATF, Memorial Day, Veterans Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:46:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21627127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperMint/pseuds/HM
Summary: Songs have untold power. It just takes one 'right' song at the 'right' time.
Relationships: Ezra Standish/Vin Tanner
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Quiet and Peaceful

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Mag 7 isn't mine, the song itself isn't mine.
> 
> AN: So, in honor of Veterans Day this past November, my choir sang a song that sounded really pretty and I almost immediately thought of Vin. Mostly, though, I thought of some place that I've never been to in my life, but it just absolutely fit and I had to write it one day. Then I found out that my thoughts during the song would've been better for Memorial Day. *shrug*
> 
> Oh, well.
> 
> *Remember to play any links in a different tab. They do not automatically open into one.*

* * *

Ezra never served in the Military, never had a passing thought to it, never had that inexplicable urge to defend his country from outside forces and probably never will. But that wasn't to say that he looked down on those that had or still was.

When he found out that Chris, Buck and Vin had - Josiah probably had, but never let on one way or another -, he'd shrugged and made sure he studied up on how to avoid friendly fire when dealing with one's Veteran teammates.

Eventually beginning a relationship with Vin, Ezra soon came to realize that there were two US Holidays that drew out the more contemplative side of the younger man.

The day before Veterans Day in the building began with all Veterans being personally thanked by Judge Travis and was then followed throughout the day by everyone else expressing their own gratitudes. On the Veterans Day during their first year together, he'd noticed that Vin had seemed troubled behind his usual smiles and it wasn't until later that night at Ezra's that the Texan had reluctantly confided to him that he'd never felt comfortable with any of it. 

"Course, I know that people want ta say thanks," Vin heaved a deep sigh. "But... Ez, it's just a _job_. Ain't never signed up for thanks. Jus' wanted ta follow tha' feelin' ya get when ya hear the Call."

"Can't say I've ever been Summoned," Ezra quietly responded. "But I would have thought that you would feel the support of the ones you've spent years of your life protecting."

"Hell, Ez, I don' need anyone ta thank me. Ain't somethin' I need ta do my job. Plenty a' thankless jobs 'round here. Why'm I any different?"

"I suppose that makes sense."

And it did.

Gratitude, support, approval - things that many professions lacked, especially the ones that counted. Perhaps because it was seen as a given for the Dentist to do her job or the Doctor to do his. 

No one ever thought to express gratitude for them, to them.

But it was the ones who put their lives on the line for others that garnered the most attention - a fair number perhaps even sharing Vin's feelings on the matter, being thanked then being puzzled as to why when they were simply doing their jobs.

To some, that was more than enough reason.

To others, perhaps Vin was right and they had no reason to thank someone for doing the job they'd applied for.

Ezra never counted himself as overtly Patriotic, but he'd always had a healthy respect for the people who stood between him and another 9/11.

"Well, my thanks to you, regardless," he shrugged. "It may seem trivial to you, but it feels like the right thing to me."

Vin didn't seem to find words for a long time after that and that was fine.

Their silence was comfortable and warm and Ezra left it on that note.

* **

Ezra, even before diving into a relationship with him, knew that Vin took Memorial Day very seriously and had once overheard JD ask Vin why he thought that day was the most important Number One Holiday even before Thanksgiving and Christmas and Veterans Day.

"Because," Vin had said simply. "We wouldn't be celebratin' Veterans Day an' Thanksgiving an' Christmas without someone havin' died. Ev'ry Veteran knows that the only reason we's alive today - the reason we _have_ a Veterans Day - is 'cause someone else stepped in front of us. That, more'n anything else..." Vin hadn't been able to go on and neither Ezra or JD had the heart to keep going.

Especially because Vin was right. 

He wouldn't have made it out of the Rangers had others not died, necessitating the dissolution of Vin's team and the choice for the surviving members to stay all in or get out.

After agreeing to a relationship, Vin would spend Memorial Day split between disappearing for hours on end and refusing to leave Ezra's side.

The Southerner thought it likely that Vin was thinking of all he had now and the fact that someone else hadn't been able to come home to their own, which made Ezra feel warm when he realized the younger man thought that highly of him. 

At night, Vin would silently curl up closer to him on the sofa where he usually stayed a little further away due to some sort of possibly claustrophobic anxiety, the light red blanket going around his shoulders as his head landed on Ezra's shoulder.

Memorial Day evenings were when Ezra would protect Vin from regret and survivor's guilt that never went away no matter how many years past the incident was.

It wasn't an even trade in the least, but Ezra needed to do what he could, anyway. If Vin was ever fully aware of it, then he'd never said anything to him one way or another.

* **

"Vin?" Ezra spoke into the warm silence of his living room, Vin silent at his side as the fire warmed them against the cold of early November. "May I ask a question?"

"Ain't stoppin' you from askin'," he shrugged, blue eyes trained on the fire as his hand absently swirled the brandy in his glass.

"Very well. I realize there is no love lost between you and Veterans Day, but surely there has to be something about Veterans Day that's stood out to you in the past. A particular expression of gratitude or a Veterans Day event that touched you. Have you ever been in a different country for Veterans Day or simply in America since getting out?"

Vin was quiet for a long time before he heaved a deep sigh and sank back into the cushions. "Couple years 'fore the Team, I was in Europe. Found myself in France and thought I'd check out Normandy while I was there since it was so close to Veterans Day an' I wanted to visit cause they were robbed of the chance to get involved. Thought I'd show my appreciation for them boys special day or no, cause we all owe our lives to 'em some way or another. So, anyway, I was walkin' along the [Rows of Crosses and Stars](https://www.google.com/search?q=normandy+american+cemetery&rlz=1C1TSNP_enUS534US534&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj26caq9pPmAhVhleAKHVwJDA0Q_AUoAnoECBAQBA&biw=1366&bih=625) an' I noticed people crowdin' together near the reflection pool. Turns out they was a choir on a group trip from the States an' they probably figured that Veterans'd be wanderin' the grounds and rememberin' how close _they_ came ta bein' a Cross on Veterans Day while thinkin' on their brothers who ain't lived long 'nough to see that year. Whatever reasonin' that choir group had fer bein' there," Vin shook his head, completely lost in the memory now. "On some level, you really don' care 'bout why when they sing like that. Couldn't've been more than half an hour, but I coulda listened ta them fer _hours_."

Seeing Vin's wonder, Ezra could imagine the scene: visitors in a state of reflective melancholy amidst reminders of the darkest times of their lives standing stock still as if they were on patrol at the first hint of melody on the slight breeze drifting over the Crosses and Stars lying in their familiar Rows. Should the circumstances be fortuitous enough, he imagined the no doubt angelic notes easily reaching from one corner of the sizable field to the other, wounded souls never quite healing - if at all - yet breaths coming a little easier in the face of those moments where something unnameable snuck into the cracks and for just those moments, it was _okay_. 

Like all the guilt, regret, remorse they held - the things that would never leave them until the day they died and perhaps not even then - were suspended and held between the melody and lyrics floating around them for unknowable hours, allowing life to be just a little easier to withstand as they listened. 

Like - for that suspended moment in time - they'd found atonement and, especially, relief. _Forgiveness_. What they would usually not allow themselves to seek, were it not for the songs so readily able to carry their wounded souls into a state of healing. 

While not Military himself, Ezra found that he could relate in a sense. He'd gone through a hell of a lot in his own life and there had been many a time when he'd doubted his own choices and decisions in the course of it. He'd never had someone die on his watch, but there had been many, many, _many_ close calls. And each 'what if' would twist his mind for a long time after.

He would never be able to truly understand the way Vin could, but perhaps - for a moment - he might come close.

"I wish I could have been there," he murmured. 

"Yeah," Vin smiled slightly, the both of them lapsing into a contemplative silence. 

Eventually blowing out a heavy sigh, Ezra watched Vin wordlessly drain his drink. "Would you like another?" he offered.

Seeing his nod, he took the glass and stood. Returning moments later, he settled back down just in time for Vin to ask, "Wanta hear it?"

"Mm?" he blinked.

"The song," he clarified. "'siah helped me find it a few years back 'n' I can listen to it whenever I want."

"I," he blinked again. "Yes, yes, of course," he nodded.

Vin moved to get his laptop and kept his brandy with him as he looked through his computer until he found what he wanted. "Not the same choir and not outside," he explained, "an' the first part's not as clear, neither, but it's definitely the same song. Not sure if I like hearin' it done inside, but it really does sound like Angels."

He lowered the computer screen so they could just focus on the audio and hit [play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3VQ4RrfrS4).

Almost immediately, Ezra was struck by the thought that his earlier thoughts were not quite that far off the mark.

There was a sense of comfort and healing that just begged the listener to stop thinking and simply _be_ , the choir of Angels serenading softly into the ether in a welcome to the souls ready to come home and a reassurance to those left behind to grieve and mourn that the arrivals were going to be looked after with love.

He could simply imagine hearing this at Normandy, his breath catching at how powerful the combination of sight and sound would prove to become. 

He may not really believe in Religion, but...

Songs like this one made him think for a brief moment that maybe something was there and, for that brief moment, he was okay with that.

It was beautiful, unable to call to mind anything but comfort and love, and he sat in silence for a long time after the violin drew its last note.

A touch on his cheek had him blinking at Vin, who wore an understanding smile on his face. 

He opened his mouth, but couldn't find words as he registered a damp feeling on his cheeks. 

"I know," Vin murmured, wrapping his hand around the back of Ezra's neck and tipping their heads forward until their foreheads touched. 

Ezra closed his eyes and swallowed.

Words didn't exist anymore, leaving emotions in their wake.

* * *

END

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> So, evidently, the three US Holidays are as follows:
> 
> \- Veterans Day: November 11. Originally to celebrate Armistice Day (the end of WWI) and the casualties of the Great War (also WWI), the decision to include * ** _all_** * war veterans (both living and dead) came sometime after WWII. 
> 
> \- Memorial Day: Last Monday in May. Apparently completely different to Veterans Day due to remembering the personnel that * ** _died_** * in the Military while serving.
> 
> \- Armed Forces Day: Third Saturday in May. Celebrating * ** _current_** * military.
> 
> * **  
> 'Quietly, Peacefully' has two versions. A more common version that you can find anywhere on YouTube and an evidently rarer version with the 'funeral verses' that I'd sung with my group. I'm so happy that I could track the second version down and share it with all of you. And if you do decide to visit Normandy one day like I plan to, make it a point to listen to this song as you stand amongst the Rows.


End file.
